Why Are There No Escort Awards For Women?

Last month, New York played host to The International Escort Awards, otherwise known as the Hookies. Yes, they are a real thing. At this event, escorts from all around will travel to New York to celebrate the best of the best. It sounds very exciting, right?

At the event you will see many escorts all eager to claim a crown and show off exactly why they are the best of the best. Yet there is something you will notice about the escorts in attendance – they are all men.

Here on the Escort Norway blog, we take a look at the 2015 Hookies and discuss why there might not be any escort awards for female escorts.

The Hookies

The Hookies are huge, and have been hosted since 2006 when the International Escort Awards first appeared. Since then, they have simply become more popular, with more and more escorts entering to try and scoop the prizes.

It is the Oscars of Escorting, with appropriate categories such as ‘Best Ass’, ‘Best Pornstar Escort’ for those looking for the ultimate PSE, and ‘Best Social Media’. There is also the high sought after ‘Mr. International’, which is awarded to “somebody who has a great reputation, discusses the industry, and has a positive outlook”.

April Adams of Vice.com attended this year, explaining that “when you ask people to come along to the Escort Oscars, everyone says yes” because of how big and epic the event is.

As you can imagine, the evening starts off with a bang as drag queen Alaska Thunderfuck takes the stage, “surrounded by muscled backup dancers”. Quite the sight to see!

Awarding diversity

The awards aren’t just for those with the nicest ass or the hottest body overall. They award and look for diversity, with many new categories popping up each year.

For example, there is also the ‘Best Bear or Cub’ award, where men with teddy bear appearances (usually bigger, cuddlier, and hairier than the average man) are given awards to show that not all escorts have to be the same.

This year saw the first trans man to be nominated at the awards… ever! Not only was Viktor Belmont nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’, he actually drew with Patrick Michaels.

It goes to show that these awards are well and truly awarding the diversity that you will find in the escorting industry around the world. There is no such thing as the perfect escort, or one who will be suitable to everyone. What you enjoy most might not work for someone else.

Do we need awards?

Honestly, the International Escort Awards are a great idea. As Rocco Steele, the man who took home the awards for ‘Best Cock’ and for ‘Mr. International’ says, “I think it’s a great thing because it legitimizes and rewards individuals in an industry sometimes overlooked and/or not taken seriously, and it sets a benchmark for us to work toward by recognizing the best in the industry.”

Far too many people have their own ideas about what this industry is. They think that sex workers are all victims, forced to work and “sell their souls” just to earn enough money to put some food on the table. They are seen as helpless and sad, unable to find any joy in life.

These awards show that not only is that not the case, but the people working in the industry are damn proud of what they do and they enjoy it.

No women

However, while the Hookies do seem to award diversity in some way, it isn’t completely open. The big thing that attendees have noticed is that women are just not a part of it.

Sure, there are women in attendance, but none are nominated or a part of the awards. Even Adams noticed it, when her roommate asked “Why can’t we have this?”

In fact, she spoke to Hawk Kinkaid, the COO of Rentboy, who started by saying “I don’t know why we couldn’t!” Hawk immediately goes back on this, stating that “well, maybe I do. The stigmas around women exercising their sexual agency are still so vast. Men are not typically the subject of that conversation.”

So, the stigma surrounding female sex workers is the reason that there are no female Hookies awards.

Time for change?

Honestly, I think it is about time for a change. We need to see some kind of escort awards for women. Female escorts seem to make up the majority of escorts, and taking a look at the Escort Norway homepage shows this. At the time of writing this article, there are 198 female escorts and only 12 male escorts, 15 TS escorts, and 2 TV escorts.

The women have the majority, and yet people are still not willing to accept that, actually, these sexy women are capable of choosing their own work and job in life.

Do you think it will ever be possible to hold an International Female Escort Awards, or even just an International Escort Awards that honours everyone, regardless of gender? I really hope so. It would be a fantastic thing to experience. If we can have awards for porn stars, why can’t we have awards for escorts?

Do you have a favourite escort you think deserves an award? What categories would you make? Let me know what you think by using the comment box below, or you could just head over to the Escort Norway forum and see what other people are saying.

Lara Mills is a writer who has four years of sex industry expertise behind her. Since she entered the adult industry, she has worked on the Escort Advertising forums, before moving into her current role three years ago.

Since then she has gained a fine reputation with her blogs on sex advice, sexual health and amusing news stories from around the globe. She is also a campaigner for the rights of sex workers from all over the world.

In her spare time, Lara keeps herself active by going running, and is something of a film buff. She also loves to go travelling.